Severe weather is on the rise in western Pennsylvania. Between March 1 and April 16, the National Weather Service issued 96 severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in our region, far surpassing 2025’s record of 56 over that same period. March alone saw 63 severe thunderstorm warnings, significantly higher than the previous record of 27 set in 2020. On average, March sees about eight such warnings.
While storms can happen year-round, they’re typically at their peak in the spring, meaning that now is an ideal time to get prepared. A little planning during storm season can help keep you and your family safe and make power outages easier to manage.
During widespread, damaging storms, outages can last for an extended period of time, making advance planning especially important. Having an emergency preparedness kit on hand can give you peace of mind and help your household stay comfortable and safe for at least 72 hours.
A basic emergency kit should include:
Don’t forget to consider individual needs, too. Items such as infant supplies; pet food and medications; eyeglasses; and weather\u2011appropriate clothing can make a big difference during an extended outage or emergency.
In addition to an emergency kit, it’s important to have a plan before a storm hits. Know how you’ll receive weather alerts; how family members will communicate if you’re not together; and where important documents are stored. If you ever need to leave your home, identify safe places you can go ahead of time.
Remember to review your plan regularly and make appropriate updates.
Are you ready for an emergency? Review our checklist.
Staying informed during a storm is key. Customers can use DLC’s outage map and alert notifications to track outages and receive timely updates as we work to restore power. Keeping your contact information up to date is crucial to ensuring that you receive these notifications.
Customers can also turn to trusted partners like the American Red Cross, FEMA and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for additional tips, planning tools and recovery information.
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\u200bYou can also watch our recently recorded emergency preparedness webinar: